The council members claim in the complaint they have been victims of a "pattern of conduct, including making defamatory statements, designed and intended to impugn, defame, libel and slander" their names and reputations by a person or group of unknown bloggers and social media users.

The statements, which include accusations of illegal activity and misconduct, have hurt the borough, and council members' reputations have been irreparably damaged, according to the suit.

"These false statements really do undermine the community's inherent trust in those they have elected and clearly have a negative effect on the entire process of governance in the borough," borough attorney Christopher Troxell said today.

Requests for comment sent to a Save Alpha email address and Twitter account were not returned. The Twitter account was found disabled early this afternoon.

Borough officials last year became aware of various defamatory statements being posted on several websites, blogs and social media outlets, according to court documents. The 31-page suit includes pictures of posts made on the Twitter account @Save_Alpha and Facebook account of save.alpha.NOW as well as a posting on the "Defeat Dunwell" blog.

The blog has since been made private.

According to the suit, Save Alpha posted a picture on Twitter months ago of a New York Leak Detection van contracted to perform work for the borough, alleging the employee had been drinking beer with Dunwell. Above the picture were the words, "Is Alpha paying for Craig Dunwell's Happy Hour?"

The New York Leak Detection employee later told borough officials future work in Alpha may not be in the company's best interest as a result of the photograph, according to the suit.

On March 26, the Twitter account suggested Dunwell had demanded a six-pack of beer in exchange for keeping a neighbor's utilities from being turned off for nonpayment, the suit said.

"Such defamatory statements are baseless and suggest criminal activity on the part of both parties, which is absolutely untrue," according to court records.

In May, the Save Alpha Twitter handle alleged five council members broke the Open Public Meetings Act by meeting privately. Later, on Facebook, officials were accused of lying when they denied such a meeting took place, according to the suit.

Such statements "are baseless and suggest criminal activity on the part of council members, but moreover, said statements are absolutely false and made with malice," the suit contends.

Council President Carol Schwar, who has denied the meeting took place, said today the accusation carried weight with some in the community, sullying the reputations of those accused.

"People believe what they read," she said.

But the council members' personal reputations aren't the only thing under attack, the suit alleges. Accusations leveled at officials call into question the integrity of the borough and its ability to act as a governmental agency in compliance with the law, the suit said.

As a result, other government entities, vendors and potential employees have been, or will be, discouraged from doing business with the borough, the suit contends.

The suit seeks an injunction ordering the anonymous posters to stop interfering with borough business and making what officials say are false statements.

The suit also seeks compensatory and punitive damages, attorney fees and other "relief the court deems proper."